Cautionary Signs For Consumer Spending

from Lakshman Achuthan, Co-Founder and Chief Operations Officer of ECRI

Consumer spending, which accounts for roughly 70% of GDP, is critical to the Fed’s optimistic view on the economy as it prepares to hike rates in December. However, consumer spending slowed in the third quarter, and this week’s Fed statement downgraded consumer spending, saying it is “rising moderately,” and no longer “growing strongly.”